Forgiving

Forgiveness is a topic most would rather avoid, but here are some musings from me, an imperfect BYUI student....

We aren't perfect, and most of the time we give ourselves a hard time about this,  but often we give others a hard time because of this too. We do this by not forgiving when we feel people have wronged us in some way.  We read In Doctrine and Covenants 64: 10

" I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men."

It is required, not you should or it is better for you if you do, but it is required. Some offenses don’t take long to forgive, some hardships are easier to get past than others, but we get credit for trying. Sometimes forgiveness will take a lifetime, and sometimes, the original hurt will be triggered by something else entirely causing us to dwell on those feelings again. WHEN these things happen, just keep going, keep trying, it is ok to keep trying, just don't give up.

while I didn't mean to sounds like President Holland, he has many wise words, you can read his talk about giving up here. its one of my favorites. 

I feel very strongly that the person we find hardest to forgive is usually ourselves, our exacting standards that we require of ourselves leave no room for our imperfections.  When things are tough and we need to forgive ourselves we should consider that it is required.   The atonement makes it possible to repent, to forgive and to move on.  In his talk from 2011 Elder C. Scott Grow said 

"If you are suffering from feelings of guilt or remorse, bitterness or anger, or loss of faith, I invite you to seek relief. Repent and forsake your sins. Then, in prayer, ask God for forgiveness. Seek forgiveness from those you have wronged. Forgive those who have wronged you. Forgive yourself"   if you want to read or listen to this talk go here. 

Forgiveness is one of those topics that cause me a lot of angst, in my reading about forgiveness I came across some awesome advice “after completing the forgiveness process, victims may still be haunted on occasion by the pain of the offense. During this stage, it is important to move forward. When thoughts revert to the painful injury, the victim is reminded that the decision to forgive has already been made. He or she does not have to repeat the process” (chapter 20 successful marriage and families).

This along with other readings has really helped me to understand that forgiveness is a process.  and it is ok that I fall down, and it is ok that sometimes forgiveness takes longer than others.

And it is ok. 

I need to keep repenting, keep forgiving, and keep moving forward. 

Together is a wonderful place to start.